


Music Gets The Best Of Me

by Demzill



Category: Castle
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-12
Updated: 2014-05-30
Packaged: 2018-01-15 12:16:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 5,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1304599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demzill/pseuds/Demzill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of (mostly) non-connected one-shots based upon song lyrics.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Heartbeat - Scouting for Girls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeframe: After Season 1.

_Doing all that I can just to be close to you, every time that we meet I skip a heartbeat._  


* * *

He will apologize for every little thing; disobeying orders, getting in her way, crazy theories and any lie he may tell.

He will forgive every little mistake; stinging remarks, pushing him away, the moments they don't talk about and any truth she may hide.

He will force attention into conversations about her boyfriends, create a smile when she leaves for a date and ignore Ryan and Esposito's knowing glances when one stops by, knuckles white from holding back.

He will bring her coffee from a specific coffee shop across town from his loft at the beginning of each case just to see her smile.

He will let her break his heart nine times a day, solely because of the one time a day she makes his heart skip a beat.


	2. Buddy Holly - Weezer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeframe: After Season 5, Episode 5.

_I don't care what they say about us anyway, I don't care about that._

* * *

Standing in the elevator, heading up towards the 12th precinct, Detective Kate Beckett stares down at her cellphone with a concerned frown.

**\- Castle is panicking.  
\- Make him stop.**

There are several reasons Rick could be frightened; Alexis moving out for college, the upcoming deadline for his latest Nikki Heat novel and of course, the 'zombie invasion'.

But, no, she knows his real concern is how she's going to react to everyone at the precinct talking about their new, obvious relationship.

And, while she isn't panicking over it, she can understand why he might believe otherwise.

For years now, the 12th has been her home, it has been the place she feels safest. Since her shooting, however, since Castle told her he loves her while she almost bled to death in his arms...

Pulled from her thoughts by the ding of the elevator, she steps out noticing Rick sat at his seat next to her desk, chewing nervously at his lip and avoiding everyone's eye-line.

She needs to make him understand that, yes, this building and its employees are important to her, but they're not her home anymore because, well...

"I don't know how they found out, Kate. As much as I wanted to, I didn't--"

They say home is where the heart is, and her home, her heart, and her _everything_ is with this ridiculous, adorable, _amazing_ man.

"Its fine, Castle."

And, well, everyone else? She doesn't care what they're saying, anyway.


	3. Handwritten - The Gaslight Anthem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeframe: After Season 5, Episode 1.

_Here in the dark I cherish the moonlight, I'm in love with the way you're in love with the night._

* * *

He wakes for the third time that night to find the bed lukewarm besides him, he knows why; the case is going nowhere and hitting far too close to home.

Kate's been wired up all day and, honestly, so has he; if she's going to go full strength into this case, well, so is he; always.

Sliding out in the bed, he pulls on a robe, padding out of the bedroom, he makes his way into the study, finding Beckett almost immediately, sat upon the windowsill, one leg dangling off the side, foot barely touching the floor, a stripe of moonlight sliding over her face.

His lips curve up into a small smile, moving over quietly he slides down to sit on the floor under the windowsill, curling an arm around her knee, resting her foot upon his thigh.

She doesn't look towards him, doesn't even react apart from a hand smoothing tiredly over his hair, fingertips curled just enough to scrape soothingly over his scalp.

He hums in content, head tipping backwards for a second, pressing a kiss into her palm, "We'll catch them, Kate." he assures, voice rough with sleep.

Her hand freezes against the back of his skull, foot tensing against his thigh, "I know." she replies, voice barely above a whisper.

"His head tips back again, staring at her upside-down, "We'll catch Bracken as well, one day."

She swallows hard, turning back towards the window, towards the night sky, "I know."

He can tell she is less confident in her second agreement, but, he isn't. Keeping his head tilted back to watch her, he rests one palm over the foot on his thigh, linking the fingers of his other hand with her hand carding through his hair.

They won't sleep again tonight, in a couple of hours they will dress and head down to the precinct before anyone else is even awake. For now, though, Castle is happy to sit here and watch the woman he loves watch the moon and the night.


	4. Called Out Into The Dark - Snow Patrol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeframe: After Season 4, Episode 10.

_'Cause we don't back down, we were called out to the streets._

* * *

They have one of the highest solve rates in the city, according to Gates, anyway. And, while Castle may preen about that for a couple of hours, they both know the praise isn't important.

The truth is important, the families and friends who can bury their loved ones knowing justice has been served are important. There are no victories for them, only battles, a war against crime they fight side-by-side, back-to-back.

They won't back down - they might back _off_ , bide their time, but the will never back down. They will sit, until four in the morning passing ideas back and forth while practically inhaling coffee because any less is not enough.

They will bleed, freeze, face gunmen, challenge tigers, drown, fall, fight, chase and almost everything in-between, but they will never back down from a case.

They will fight, they will hurt and they will love. They will rise while others rest, take control of streets while people sleep.

They will always solve cases, they will never back down.


	5. Perhaps Love - John Denver

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by: Larry Holmes @ FanFiction.net  
> Timeframe: After Season 2.

_If I should live forever and all my dreams come true, my memories of love will be of you._

* * *

Despite all of his crazy theories about time travel and Bigfoot, Castle knows that immortality is something that won't be happening, not in his lifetime, anyway. But his words, the stories he writes? Those will, hopefully, outlive him, and he needs to use that, the opportunities that brings to get a message across the world.

'Richard Castle loves Katherine Beckett.'

As much as, in the early days, they denied it, Richard Castle is Jameson Rook and Katherine Beckett is Nikki Heat. Those novels are his love letters to her; they are his hopes and dreams for them.

Because, ever since that first case together, kissing Kate Beckett has been his dream. And loving her, marrying her, while dreams added at a later date, have just as much meaning as the original.

Before Katherine Beckett, Richard Castle would say he had loved before; Kyra, Meredith and Gina, just to name a few.

Richard Castle didn't know what love was until he met Katherine Beckett. Now, she is the only thing he can associate with the word.


	6. That's All - Johnny Mathis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by: Larry Holmes @ FanFiction.net  
> Timeframe: After Season 5, Episode 1.

_I can only give you country walks in springtime, and a hand to hold when leaves begin to fall._

* * *

Richard Castle is, well... Richard Castle is rich. And while Kate Beckett may not be _poor_ , she doesn't have the money to buy him expensive gifts like his previous partners.

She has been around to see him receive these gifts in the five and a half years they have worked together. He would smile, thank the gift-giver but, his face wouldn't light up like when she offered to buy him a burger at Remy's, or takes him to her dad's cabin.

She remembers the joy radiating from his entire being as she stopped the car, followed his bouncing steps up the small path towards the log building. She remembers the infectious grin he wore, even as she explained there was no TV and that the radio was scratchy at best.

Later that first night, as they walked hand-in-hand through the cool autumn forest, orange leaves falling haphazardly around them, Kate realized that with Castle, the expensive, impersonal gifts didn't really matter.

But, a free afternoon spent at _their_ favorite diner? A vacation to _her_ memories? Well, she'd never seen him happier.


	7. The Story Of My Life - Neil Diamond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by: prdnanny.  
> Timeframe: After Season 4.

_The story of my life, begins and ends with you._

* * *

Richard Castle is a man of words and stories. A fable of a young man turned successful playboy writer turned single father turned civilian consultant for the NYPD. He is a man whose story possess' chapters such as 'Meredith' and 'Gina', with countless paragraphs in between.

And, while Katherine Beckett has paragraphs in her story; even a few pages, she's always known that, at the end of the day, she is a one-chapter girl and none of those men have been worthy of that title.

And then she met Richard Castle.

Now, she's not going to say it was love at first sight, because, in reality it was actually quite the opposite. But, he brought a new person out of her, someone not consumed with the murder of their mother, someone who could live and laugh and _feel_.

Someone with a new, empty story; a story with chapters just waiting to be filled. Chapters of friendship and suspense with his name splashed over every page and a dedication of _always_.

The fable of Katherine Beckett is one of revenge. The story of Kate Beckett, however, is one of love.


	8. A Bad Dream - Keane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeframe: Season 5, Episode 5.

_Guess I'm not the fighting kind, wouldn't mind it if you were by my side._

* * *

He's just... just so, so tired. He has no alibi, his fingerprints are at the crime scene and there are recordings - somehow - of him buying the victim gifts. He knows what is going to happen, Tyson seemed all too happy to - somehow - sneak into the 12th precinct to explain his plan of framing and prison shanking.

So Castle tries to accept that, because the conversation with Esposito, Ryan and Kate over Tyson's involvement sounded like the ramblings of a guilty man to his own ears, so he waits for the transfer.

He will die and Alexis, his mother, _Kate_ will remember him as a murderer. The realization settles within him like acid, the urge to vomit barely contained because - because this? _This_ can't be it. And, as the need to scream rises, breathe quickening into shallow pants, Kate steps in front of the holding cell, smiling.

"You didn't do it."

He stares at her, wide-eyed and confused because no, he didn't, but he can't prove that, not from here any-

_Oh._

Of course he's thought of a plan now, with her here, smiling like he's already a free man, "Kate...?"

Her smile widens, though he can see the fragility of it now his mind is working again; she believes him, they just need to prove his story, "Kate, I need to make a phone call."

And, they can prove his story, just not in the time frame they have left before his fate with a prison knife, but, as always, she is his inspiration, and, thanks to her loyalty, her trust, her presence at his side, he knows anything is possible.


	9. Still - Lionel Richie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by: Larry Holmes @ FanFiction.net  
> Timeframe: After Season 6, Episode 1.

_We played the games that people play, we made mistakes along the way._

* * *

It seems a little bit unbelievable at times that they made it far enough to get _engaged_ after all the mistakes they've both made. Denials and lies have, at times, played a bigger part in their relationship than they themselves have.

They each wonder, sometimes, where they might be now, if they'd stopped the games years ago. And, that is the problem; they played games, relationships to hide away from the truth, comments made to hurt.

He ran from her rejection, she ran from his confession. He hid knowledge of her mother's murder; she hid knowledge of his love for her.

Of course, the lies and hidden truths erupted, almost tore them apart, their emotional games almost destroying the best thing to happen to either of them.

Their relationship, while built upon the fixed debris of previous mistakes, has a strong support system of love and truth. They see lives ruined daily by the same things they've done to each other and have to be thankful they moved on, past the games that people play, together.


	10. All Of Me - John Legend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by: Pegship.  
> Timeframe: Between Season 4, Episode 1 & Season 4, Episode 9.

_The world is beating you down, I'm around through every mood. You're my downfall, you're my muse._

* * *

Rick watches her and doesn't see New York Police Detective Kate Beckett, he sees a woman scared, jumping at the softest sound, flinching away from contact. It scares him, honestly, how she can change so rapidly from the stubborn, _extraordinary_ woman of the last four years to... well, this.

She changes mood on a dime, one second shaking in panic, the next snapping at him to leave her alone, to stop crowding her. And he tries, really, really tries to give her the space she wants, the space that she needs, but he's told her now, and whether she remembers his confession or not, he just can't let her deal with something like this on her own.

Honestly, he barely had the self-control to give her space before the shooting, but now? Now he has opened up his own floodgates. Which, admittedly, was bound to happen eventually, but then? When she was bleeding to death, what had he been thinking?

Well, maybe that's the point, he hadn't, she had always been his downfall like that.


	11. Just A Day - Feeder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeframe: During Season 4, Episode 9.

_And who's gonna catch me when I'm coming down to hit the ground again?_

* * *

She stumbles through the fire-exit, Castle's voice nothing but static at the back of her mind as he calls after her.

Shedding her coat, her gun and her badge, she leans against the wall, throat spasming as loud sobs escape her chest.

She tries to breathe, large gasping breathes that wouldn't come, her focus so caught on the in and out she doesn't notice Rick step quietly around the corner, doesn't see him freeze in place at the sight of the bandage covering half of her right-side lower arm.

"Kate?"

Her entire body tenses, slowly, she lifts her head from between her knees, red-rimmed, widened eyes staring up at him in horror, "I-I can't, Castle..."

He swallows convulsively, stepping closer lightly, dropping down next to her he slowly reaches both arms out, curling his fingers tightly against her shoulders, pulling her forwards, into his chest, "I'm here Kate, always."

She freezes for a few seconds before relaxing into him frame, cheek pressing against his chest, "You gonna catch me if I fall, Castle?" she teases weakly, tone tired.

"Wouldn't want you hitting the ground, Detective." he quips, arms curling tight around her upper-back.


	12. L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. - Noah And The Whale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeframe: Late Season 2 / Early Season 3.

_But to a writer, the truth is no big deal._

* * *

To Richard Castle, the truth is not a luxury, he spends his career writing fantasies, watches people lie to the police on a daily basis about practically everything. Besides, lying is not in his nature, Richard Castle is very much a man who wears his heart on his sleeve, his face shows his feelings easily.

Being a poor liar aside, he simply doesn't _like_ lying, Richard Castle is not a man who lies for himself, he will, however, lie for other people. Sometimes, the truth hurts, and while he can accept that, hurting people, especially those important to him, has never been a life goal.

Kate, for example, cannot, currently, handle the truth of his feelings for her, they both know the feelings exist, but speaking them aloud will do nothing but lead to rejection, he thinks. And, while Castle can live with that, after all, he is no stranger to the sting of rejection, he worries _she_ wouldn't be able to cope with rejecting him.

Richard Castle is a man of truths, but, for her, he will take the weight of a lie.


	13. The Book Of Love - Peter Gabriel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeframe: After Mid Season 5.

_But I, I love it when you read to me. And you, you can read me anything._

* * *

One of Kate's favorite things about Castle is his voice, it's both rough and smooth, hard and gentle; just like Castle himself. His voice makes her shiver, brings her body to boiling point from even the most mundane of conversations.

After a case is solved, they go for a few drinks with Lanie and the boys, if it's been a tough case, however, they'll head straight back to Castle's loft, only making a brief stop into the study to pick a book - any book, though generally one of Castle's. He will climb into bed first, sit back against the headboard, legs stretched out and she will follow, pressing up against his side, cheek pressed over his heart, an arm looped tightly over his waist.

He will rest a wrist upon her hip, fingers and palm splayed wide over the side of her torso, his other hand holding the novel open against his thigh as he reads. Her cheek will press harder to his chest, letting the rumble of his words wash over her in soothing waves, pulling her under, into slumber.

He will read aloud, even after she's asleep, the quiet blanket of his voice covering her until he follows her into slumberland.


	14. Thank You - Led Zepplin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by: Kelly.  
> Timeframe: Early Season 2.

_With you there is no wrong, together we shall go until we die._

* * *

He has been asked before whether he worries about the dangers of working with the police, whether or not the guns and fights scare him. They don't, honestly, he faces them with _her_ and, with her at his side, there is no wrong, there is nothing to fear. They will have each other's back, always.

And, he does mean that - the always bit, he's been asked that before as well; _when will you have enough research for Nikki Heat?_ , _do you ever plan to stop helping the police?_

It stopped being about the books a long time ago, and started being about _her_ ; Kate Beckett. He'll keep helping until he dies, or she dies, or they both die, because, he doesn't really know how to do otherwise, any more.


	15. Misery - Maroon 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeframe: Season 4, Episode 1.

_Sometimes these cuts are so much deeper than they seem._

* * *

Normally, if there is a problem, especially between herself and Castle, she prefers to hide it away while he prefers to talk about it, get it fixed. That's not to say she _doesn't_ want to fix anything, she just... worries that she'll say the wrong thing. This time, though -

There's some kind of unspoken rule at the precinct where they don't mention her three month disappearance, and, while she at first believes this is because everyone thinks _she_ doesn't want to talk about it, Kate is quick to realize this is more about Castle than it is about herself.

She can see it in the way Lanie tries to mother-hen him a little, and the boys are less playful brothers and more protective of the writer. Normally, she'd draw it up to something, anything else, but -

His shoulders tense a little when she leaves for the night, as if he expects her to bolt, and no matter how good a mask he wears, it always cracks a little if she mentions her time spent at her dad's cabin. While her lack of contact over the last three months has obviously hurt him more than she had previously believed, she isn't honestly sure how to fix things.

And she does; want to fix things that is, because she has spent those three months with his confession keeping her alive, filling every moment, awake or otherwise and she _needs_ to fix this because, one day, hopefully sooner rather than later, she plans to confess a few feelings of her own.


	16. Piano Man - Billy Joel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeframe: Between Season 3, Episode 12 and Season 4, Episode 6.

_Yes they're sharing a drink they call loneliness, but it's better than drinking alone._

* * *

The boss' table, usually surrounded by the laughter of four, for tonight anyway, was filled with the silence of two.

Realistically, it was far too early to go home without time spent alone, not yet alcohol-numbed to ignore the thoughts of _this isn't where I'm meant to be, and maybe I should say_ it _maybe - maybe..._

A pair of glasses thudding quietly onto the polished wood table draws both pairs of eyes up to Kenny, The Old Haunt's faithful barkeep, "You look like you could use 'em."

Castle's smile of thanks is light enough, but anyone who knows him well, such as the detective sat next to him, will notice the cracks forming around the edges. Kenny, however, does not notice, disappearing back behind the bar a second before Beckett and Castle both swallow down half of their drinks.

They will drink until the thoughts of loneliness are fogged over, and they can dream of a day when _together_ is possible.


	17. Let It Go - Idina Menzel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeframe: After Season 5, Episode 1.

_And the fears that once controlled me, can't get to me at all._

* * *

She remembers a time when the idea of dating Castle might have sent her into an almost panic-attack like state, because her relationships never end well and Castle? Well, he's _important_ to her.

But, now that it is happening, now that they're _here_ , she feels... light, like her life before making this decision was wrong and now...

Now the songs make sense.

It's leading her to not let pretty much anything scare her. After all, she just quit her dream job two days ago and yet, she feels like she can do anything.

And really, she _can_ do anything. The haunting grip of her mother's murder is gone, her paralysing fear of Castle's - as well as her own - feelings have been dealt with, she can, after all these years, breathe easily for once.


	18. Hey, Soul Sister - Train

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeframe: Anytime.

_I knew I wouldn't forget you, so I went and let you blow my mind._

* * *

He wonders, sometimes, if she remembers the first time they met, and, he doesn't mean the Tisdale case. If his maths is right their first meeting was roughly three months after her mother was murdered and about two weeks before she joined the police academy.

It was a book signing for his first Derrick Storm novel at a store he now realizes was about a five minute walk from her then-home. She was young, and despite the screaming fans around her, the excited atmosphere, sadness rolled off of her in waves.

The rules were a minute per person and just a signature; no personalizing. He ended up talking to her for five minutes and practically filled half a page with words, including a note that if she wanted to talk, he would listen.

She never called, and he never forgot.


	19. Beautiful - Gordon Lightfoot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by: Larry Holmes @ FanFiction.net  
> Timeframe: After Season 6, Episode 3.

_It seems so lucky just to have the right telling you with all my might, 'You're beautiful tonight'._

* * *

There's a power-out in Castle's building and while Alexis and Martha have fled to places with working electricity, the writer and his fiancée are curled up on the couch within the loft, and, as he turns to mention something about the case they'd been working the last few days, his words are quickly lost as he watches the light from the candles set up around the room move across her face.

"God, you're beautiful." he murmurs, voice tinged with an awe he has connected with the detective pressed into his side for years now. Sometimes, he's still shocked by the realization that can now tell her things like that without having to hide behind less intense words like _extraordinary_.

And, because they are together now, he no longer needs to hide the love and adoration in his gaze when he looks at her, and she no longer needs to pretend not to see it, even when he's hiding it to try and look professional at work.

She smiles, curling herself tighter around him, "You're not so bad yourself, Castle."


	20. You, Me And The Bourgeoisie - The Submarines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeframe: After Season 4.

_And here we are in the center of the first world, it's laid out for us, who are we to break down?_

* * *

One day, while Kate's catching up on paperwork at the precinct, his mother mentions the fact that he and Beckett never seem to _fight_ , they bicker, sure, but since getting together anyway, they've never had a full blown argument. And it's true, they haven’t, because, well, because they have nothing _worthy_ to fight about.

They have problems, sure - but small, meaningless ones that can be solved with a single comment, or by working together, as always.

The reason is, well; they're happy. They finally have each other, something they both believed might never happen and, well, what do they have to argue about, after that?


	21. Demons - Imagine Dragons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeframe: Season 4, Episode 12.

_Don't want to let you down, but I am hell bound; though this is for you, don't want to hide the truth._

* * *

Castle leaves the abandoned parking lot itching for a shower - the building wasn't dirty and neither was the man he met there, physically, anyway. 

He did not fight for his place at Beckett's side so that he could get involved in lies and blackmail, especially when the lies are directed at Kate. He understands the need for them, sure, Beckett is a woman with a goal, and, if she knew --

He is doing this for her, it is obvious whatever happened back during her mother's murder is bigger than either of them realizes and he can't lose Kate, not again.

He will bear the weight of this sin, carry this lie with him, begging to crawl free from his throat every time she smiles a smile he's too damned to deserve.


	22. Limelight - Rush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by: TORONTOSUN @FanFiction.net  
> Timeframe: Anytime during Season 3.

_One must put up barriers, to keep oneself intact._

* * *

Something she gained after her mother's death was an inability to let anyone into her heart, she'd watched her father almost drink himself to death, and she just couldn't let that possibly one day be her. She dedicated herself to solving crime and investigating her mother's murder, that is, of course, until Richard Castle stumbled into her life.

Somehow, he managed to create cracks in the impenetrable walls she'd built around her heart through the years, slowly finding the weak spots and exploiting them with a boyish grin she'd never admit to being weak against.

She tried rebuilding them during the low points of their partnership where, for whatever argument they were currently in the middle of, contact was non-existent, but, whenever they started working together again, he'd simply re-create the cracks, finding more in the process.

Eventually, he will crash through that wall of hers with his words and actions; she just hopes they both make it through the rubble unscathed.


	23. Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by: Guest @ FanFiction.net  
> Timeframe: After Season 4.

_But nothings greater than the rush that comes from your embrace._

* * *

Something she learnt surprisingly early on in her partnership with Castle was that he gives _amazing_ hugs. Sometimes, after surviving high-danger situations, he would curl his arms around her shoulders and pull her into his chest, enveloping her in a warmth and smell that was purely _Castle_.

Once they start dating, she becomes almost addicted. She'll find any moment she can to wiggle herself into his embrace, pressing her back to his chest as they sit in bed or on the couch, lifting his arms to curl around her stomach if they don't do so automatically, or press into his side as they walk down the street, reveling in the way his arm wraps around her shoulders or waist without thought.

The truth of the matter is; the more she gets used to it happening, the more addicted she gets, and as long as Castle doesn't mind (he certainly doesn't seem to) then she doesn't plan on stopping her attempts to burrow against him.


	24. Sick, Sick, Sick - Queens of the Stone Age

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeframe: After Season 6, Episode 2.

_A lick of the lips and my grip on your hips._

* * *

He's been on a book tour for the last three weeks and, despite calling _every_ night and the copious amounts of phone sex they've engaged in, Castle has missed Kate greatly.

Somewhat luckily then, he manages to get back to New York three days early, he hasn't told Beckett yet of course, hoping to surprise her. And, surprise her he does, pushing the (for some reason) unlocked door open, he doesn't even manage to call out her name before she's _there_ and he's shoved up against the wall next to the door, her arm pressing into his throat.

Despite the situation he has found himself in, his mouth curves up into a grin at the sight of her, his hands falling on instinct to curl against her hips.

"Castle?" she hisses, immediately dropping her arm, hands falling to her sides, staring up at him, eyes wide in awe, tongue darting out to lick over her own lips.

Rick's grin widens, the grip he has upon her hips tightening, tugging her body closer to his, "Did I surprise you, Detective?", he teases, eyes sparkling happily.

Kate rolls her eyes, pushing up onto her toes, nipping at his lower lip in punishment, "Shut up, babe." she mutters, pressing her lips hard against his own.


	25. I Try - Macy Gray

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beckett Timeframe: Season 2, Episode 24.  
> Castle Timeframe: Season 4, Episode 23.

  
**[BECKETT]**   
_Though I try to hide it, it's clear, my world crumbles when you are not near._   


* * *

She stares at his back as he turns, curling his arm around Gina's shoulders, embarrassed heat rising to Beckett's cheeks. She keeps her gaze focused forwards, even as Castle disappears around the corner, because turning away means seeing the looks of pity upon her friends' faces.

And, at the moment, that's how she feels; pitiful. She's spent all this time planning to (belatedly) accept Castle's invitation instead of just _accepting_ it. And, it feels, just a little, like the world's going to start crumbling around her feet, because she's spent the last three years with Castle at her side with no more than a week's space at a single time and now, just as she realizes she's _in love_ with him, he's gallivanting off for an entire summer with a woman he care(s/d?) enough about to have _married_.

It's pathetic she knows, but, she's jealous, jealous that even when he comes back, the focus of his attention will be Gina, maybe to the point that he won't even want to work with her anymore. And that, more than _anything_ , more than hiding her feelings, more than surviving this summer; the idea of him not _wanting_ to work with her anymore, makes her feel like her world's crumbling to dust.

* * *

**[CASTLE]  
 _I try to say goodbye and I choke, I try to walk away and I stumble._**

* * *

Her words swirl about his mind in mismatched jumbles; _war_ 's, _how could you?_ 's and _my life!_ 's cause his breath to quicken in panic because this is the _worst_ case scenario and everything's _spiraling_ out of control and he needs to _leave_ , needs to _gogogo_ , dammit--

Words have been leaving his mouth, he knows, but he can't recall them as his vision blurs, thankfully hiding whatever expression she's wearing as pleas choke like acid in his throat, leaving only the bitter tang of grim acceptance.

He tries to move past her, though of course he manages to stumble over his own _fucking_ feet and, despite the closing finality of their conversation, she reaches a hand out, attempting to stabilize his balance, freezing when he recoils violently from the contact.

He uses her surprise to flee the apartment, the building and the street, not stopping until he's at least four blocks away, panting with the taste of acidic-bile rising higher and _higher_ in his throat until he's sure he might never stop vomiting if he starts.


	26. Moth's Wings - Passion Pit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeframe: End of Season 6, Episode 22.

_Put down your sword and crown, come lay with me on the ground._

* * *

They stand, arms wrapped around each other, her cheeks pressed to his neck, his chin on her shoulder, the realization that, for now at least, this fight is won.

He feels her shoulders relaxing, the proverbial sword dropped, and the comparison hits him like a brick; she is a modern-day knight, fighting for those with no one left to fight for them, waving her gun around with the precision of a swordmaster's blade. But her fight is won and, as usual, the knight hath slain the dragon.

His lips lift into a grin, taking a step back to grasp her hand in his, tugging her across the street towards the park before she can stage a protest, pulling her away from the path and up a small hill, towards a few trees.

Dropping down into the shade of a tree, sprawling out haphazardly on the grass, he grins up at his fiancée while holding a hand out towards her, fingers wiggling in a beckoning manner.

Beckett raises an eyebrow down at him, hands resting upon her hips and mouth twitched up into a light smile, "What're you doing, Castle?"

"I'm relaxing, Detective. After everything that's happened, so should you."

Kate stares at him suspiciously for a few seconds before slowly laying down, placing them in a 'T' shape position with Kate's head resting upon his chest.

After a few moments of silence, Castle drops a hand, stroking it lazily through Kate's hair, releasing a hum of content from the detective's throat, "This is nice." she mutters, smiling slowly into his chest.

"It is." Castle agrees, staring up at the clouds through the leaves, only glancing back down at the snore emanating from his torso, only to find Kate asleep, twisting onto her side to press closer to his chest.

Smiling lovingly down at the detective, he relaxes back into the grass, getting comfortable for the next couple of hours, "Sleep on, brave knight." the writer murmurs, closing his own eyes against the sun.

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT: 02/07/2016: Well. Time to finally admit nothing else is being added to this.


End file.
